


Of Sci-fi, Pseudoscience, and Other Grievances

by sceptick



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-14
Updated: 2013-01-14
Packaged: 2017-11-25 14:19:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/639749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sceptick/pseuds/sceptick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mulder and Scully hit the town to see <i>The Phantom Menace</i>. It goes about as well as you'd expect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Sci-fi, Pseudoscience, and Other Grievances

**Author's Note:**

> Set sometime in s7. Unrepentant fluff. Originally posted to lj in January of 2012.

 

The air was brisk outside, and a cool wind whipped through the streets. It had been an unusually cold May in Washington, especially at night. The moon hung over the Sandstone Theater, throwing light on the laughing children that spilled out the front doors. Behind these children, at a more leisurely pace, Agent Dana Scully escorted her silent partner out with a gentle, commanding hand on his elbow.

Neither said a word as they stepped onto the pavement beneath the flickering streetlights, but Scully bit back a smile as she trudged along beside Mulder. He looked positively shellshocked; he was staring down at the pavement as they walked, his jaw slack and his eyes hooded. Back in the darkness of the theatre she might have looked the same, honestly. The movie wasn’t what she’d been expecting at all. Still, the kids in there seemed to be enjoying it, so she hid her shock well once they were outside. She wouldn’t want to ruin it for them.

Once they were well away from the young, impressionable ears, though, she released Mulder’s elbow. She held her breath for a moment, considering her next words, then she tested the waters, saying, “So, Mulder, how’d you like the movie?”

He shook his head mutely. He was pressing his lips together so tightly that they had gone pale. Scully glanced at him, taking all this in, then continued. “I think my favourite part,” she mused, “was when they explained away the all-powerful, mystical Force with science.”

Mulder let out a wordless groan of deep, emotional pain.

Scully was going to laugh so hard if what finally pushed Mulder over the edge wasn’t a malicious government conspiracy biting at his heels, but rather George Lucas’ long-awaited prequel to the Star Wars series. She’d laugh until her sides screamed, and then she’d bust him out of whatever institution those scheming sons of bitches tried to lock him away in. But hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

“You want to run that by me again, Mulder?” she said, rubbing her hands together for warmth. “Whatever language that was, I don’t speak it.”

“I renounce my quest,” Mulder announced. “If that’s what extraterrestrial life is like, then I don’t care if we never find it. I’m hanging up my cape, Scully.”

“The FBI should hire George Lucas, Mulder. He’s had more success in two hours than they have in over seven years.”

“I’m being serious here, Scully,” Mulder said. “That was unholy. Sacrilegious. Blasphemous. An insult to the noble cinema.”

Scully snickered. “It’s just a movie, Mulder. You’d think this was some kind of personal  
slight, the way you’re going on.”

He didn’t answer, and when she glanced at him side-long he was looking away.What little she could see of his face was unreadable. Scully pursed her lips, tucking her hands into her armpits. She wished that she’d thought to bring gloves. Having to deal with a cranky Mulder and this bizarrely cold weather was not her idea of fun.

She considered telling him to suck it up -- it was, after all, just a movie, no matter how abysmal it may have been -- but when she opened her mouth to do so, she cut herself off. Mulder may tend towards dramatics, but there was always a reason, deep down. Even if it seemed insignificant to her, well, she wasn’t Mulder. She didn’t know what went on in that weird, brilliant mind of his, not really (although she could probably make a better guess at it than most.) She owed him -- no, he deserved the benefit of the doubt. With a sigh, she tucked away her sarcasm and said, “Alright, Mulder, out with it. What is this really about?”

Mulder reached over absentmindedly and took her nearest hand in his larger, warmer one. Scully turned, surprised at the gesture, and their eyes met. He smiled sheepishly down at her, and she grinned. He twined their fingers together, then said, “The first Star Wars came out when I was sixteen or so, and it was huge. It was everywhere. And I, consummate conformist that I am, was hooked. It sounds pathetic, but those movies meant a lot to me, I guess.”

“How so?” Scully asked, tucking her free hand into her coat’s pocket.

“They had it all, Scully. Think about it: alien civilisations, mystical forces, long-lost siblings reunited...”

Mulder fell silent, gazing away. Scully squeezed his hand, and his fingers tightened around hers. He finished, “It was everything I wanted.”

Scully nodded. “It makes sense. You must have seen a lot of yourself in Luke,” she said. She tucked some stray hairs behind her ear, then continued, “Bright, talented, but held back by those who disagreed for reasons you couldn’t yet understand. Following a traumatic event, he sets out to find truth and justice in the universe despite the skepticism and apathy of others. Even now the parallels are clear, Mulder. The -- the corrupt government that’ll stop at nothing to halt your progress, who want you on their side even after all the trouble you’ve given them.”

“Scully, stop, I’m blushing,” Mulder said, smirking.

“Don’t let it go to your head, Mulder, I’m approaching this from a purely academic point of view.”

“Well, academia aside,” Mulder said, “I actually thought Luke was kind of whiny.”

“Another thing you have in common,” Scully said, raising her eyebrows.

Mulder scowled. “That’s just cruel, Scully.”

“The truth hurts, Mulder,” she said. “What do you want me to do, apologize?”

“Might be nice,” he said, indignant, but in the bright light of the streetlamp she could see the mischievous glint in his eyes. He was anything but annoyed. She couldn’t help but smile then.

“Fine. I’ll apologize, if you admit that you have some things in common with Luke Skywalker.”

Mulder smirked, swinging her hand as they turned a corner. “I never said that I didn’t, Scully. No matter what our esteemed colleagues think, I do have some self-awareness.”

Scully chuckled at that, ducking her head. They walked a few paces in silence, enjoying the night air, then she said, “Fine then, Mulder, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you whiny. You’ve grown a lot in the last seven years, and as obnoxious as you were at first, I’ve got to admit that you’ve grown on me. A little.”

“You call that an apology, Agent Scully?”

“Take what you can get, Agent Mulder.”

He laughed, and let go of her hand only to wrap an arm around her shoulders. She craned her neck to grin up at him, winding an arm around his waist. It was moments like these that she treasured most; away from the work and away from the worry, it was like a breath of fresh air. She felt relaxed and at ease in a way that she never could while on the hunt.

Fighting for the truth had become one of her few passions in life, eclipsing everything else, and it gave her a sense of validation like no other. Despite that, she thought she would throw it all away just for this moment to last forever. It was a small vignette of that normal life she had once wanted. Just her and Mulder, walking down a dimly lit street on a brisk night, enjoying each other’s company.

She must have been staring into space as they walked, because Mulder squeezed her shoulder and said, “You look like you’re a million miles away, Scully.”

“Hmm?” She glanced at him. He looked vaguely concerned, so she said, “Oh, it’s nothing. I’m fine.”

He frowned.

“Honestly, Mulder, it’s nothing,” Scully said. She cast about for a distraction. “So if it wasn’t the absence of Luke in this movie that bothered you, then what was it?”

Mulder shrugged. “The absence of -- heart, I guess. In Luke and Han and Leia, you really felt something, you know? You wanted them to win. The underdogs. Watching this, I just didn’t care.” He cleared his throat, then added with a leer, “Well, that, and the absence of Leia’s slave outfit.”

Scully rolled her eyes. “You’re a classy man, Mulder. They teach you those manners on the Vineyard?

They rounded the corner onto her street, and Scully was seized, for a moment, by the insane desire to grab Mulder and tell him -- tell him they were going to go back to the theatre and see the movie again. Just so she could have this walk home again.

Mulder paused on the corner, staring down at her with soft eyes, and Scully saw her wish reflected in him. They really were insane, she thought. Insane together, maybe, but insane nonetheless.

Scully sighed, and rolled her shoulders. She pushed those thoughts back into their box. They clawed their way out, sometimes, but that was understandable, given everything they’d been through. After the abductions and the deaths and the heartache, they had every right to cling embarrassingly to the small moments.

Finally, she squeezed Mulder gently and said, “Come on, Mulder. Let’s get inside.”

As they made their way towards her place, she tilted her head thoughtfully. “It’s a small thing, but if it makes you feel better, Mulder... medichlorians? They never really explained how or why they worked. Frankly, there’s as much science in that explanation of the Force’s inner workings as there is in -- in astrology. As such, I can’t help but be skeptical of the truth of the movie’s claims that a Jedi’s medichlorian count, whatever that is, has anything to do with his skill or power.”

Mulder’s laugh rang out, surprised and delighted. He didn’t stop giggling until they reached her front steps, either. She smiled up at him widely as they came to a full stop, then disentangled herself from him as she searched her pockets for her keys, still grinning a little.

He stopped her by placing his hands on her shoulders. When she looked up, startled, he said, “I just want to thank you for seeing this movie with me tonight, Scully.”

“I had a good time, too, Mulder,” she teased softly. “You didn’t exactly drag me out there unwillingly.”

“Still,” he said.

Scully wrapped her hands around his biceps and used them to raise herself up onto the balls of her feet. With the added height, she was able to look into his eyes, searching cautiously for any sign of whether what she was doing was right or not. He smiled nervously, so she leaned in and kissed him.

When she pulled back, his eyes were still shut. He sighed quietly, then opened his eyes. She let go of his arms and settled back down onto her heels, then asked, “Are we okay?”

“We’re beyond okay, Scully,” he said, and he leaned down to kiss her again, briefly, then pulled back and said, “Yeah. We are so far beyond okay, we’ve travelled into the faraway land of amazing.”

“Where UFO’s make contact but only want to share their advanced medical knowledge, and beast women can roam freely in peace,” she said, struggling to hold back the huge smile that was threatening to break free.

Mulder replied, “And FBI agents can kiss their partner on their doorstep without fear of the government’s evil machinations.”

“Or George Lucas.”

“That too,” he said with a grin, leaning down again. This time, they met halfway.

 

 

 


End file.
